Sonic The Comic Online #265 - our Xmas pressie to you!

[Charles]

Silver takes on Sonic! Rouge takes on Robotnik's security! Nack takes on the world! Big the Cat takes on actual responsibility! And YOU can take on a PDF copy of the STCC comic!

www.stconline.co.uk/265/controlzone.html

[Fools in Miru]

I'm sorry, but the Big story felt pointless. It should have been given to a story that actually resolved one of your dangling plot threads. Nice twist with the Nack story (I suspect it may be his last!), and the Rouge one, though,

[Adamis]

The Big story is a light hearted, fun little Christmassy story. A small story like this is always welcome between more serious stories.

[Fools in Miru]

Dec 25, 2014 1:35:42 GMT Adamis said:

The Big story is a light hearted, fun little Christmassy story. A small story like this is always welcome between more serious stories.

You could have at least tied it into a bigger plot thread.

Instead, the entire story was pointless comedy.

[AoNoChaos]

Okay, I got super giddy when I saw this was posted!

Sonic vs Silver
Oh man, I loved this strip! The art and colours are both really nice to look at and depict the action really well. It was easy to follow along and the flow was good. I honestly really liked the one-sided battle too. Not sure why, but it was very entertaining! The ending was a huge cliffhanger too. I can't wait until the follow-up!

How Big the Cat Saved Christmas
I have to agree with Adamis. I really liked this story! It was funny and cute, including the art. Actually, Big looked adorable in a few panels. I really like how Big is being handled in STCO, and his strips are enjoyable, even if they don't contribute to the main plot. I mean, the other strips did so what's wrong with one strip that gives some light humour? 

The Bat Who Spied Me!
Pretty good strip. The art was done quite well and the story was short and to the point. I am interested in seeing how things go with Rouge, just to see if she has any significant impacts on the overall story. 

Requests Your Allegiance
This one, I'll admit, was a bit confusing at first. Maybe it's because the Elks just kinda came out of no where (well, unless I'm missing a strip which is totally possible knowing me). But after rereading a few parts it's actually pretty interesting. Usually I'm not too interested in Nack, but the story was intriguing. It gives a better bit of depth to what's going on with the war, which is something I've been looking forward to. We get to see more of the Drakons intentions as well as how dire the situation is and I really like that. Art, of course, is great too!

Next Issue 
Hahaha yeah I got so excited I got a head ache. Looks awesome both art wise and story. Super stoked for the new year and everything that happens next! 

Overall, I enjoyed this issue! Well worth the wait for sure. The stories progressed the story well, and we got to see more of how the rest of Mobius is fairing with the war as well as how the other side is progressing. The art was overall really nice as well. It's great seeing so many talented artists working on the comic! I have a good feeling about the coming year and can't wait to see what's in store!
(Also got to read the comic from STCC and loved the stories in that too. The whole comic made me all teary eyed and warm and fuzzy inside. Congrats on the success of the con and comic and here's to another great year!)

[Adamis]

Miru : Not every stories need to be tied to bigger plots.
You have the main one that's part of a big arc, that will have big repercussions next issue. You have a resolution for Nack and the Elks, plus more informations about Robotnik and the Drakons. You have a new story with Rouge the Bat. I think we can use a little comedic pause

And guess what ? We do what we want

[Adamis]

Also guys, don't forget to read the STCC comic !

[Fools in Miru]

Dec 25, 2014 2:30:23 GMT Adamis said:

Miru : Not every stories need to be tied to bigger plots.
You have the main one that's part of a big arc, that will have big repercussions next issue. You have a resolution for Nack and the Elks, plus more informations about Robotnik and the Drakons. You have a new story with Rouge the Bat. I think we can use a little comedic pause

And guess what ? We do what we want

Nice to see one plot thread finally tied up and in.

Thank you for clarifying.

[Charles]

Dec 25, 2014 2:28:36 GMT AoNoChaos said:

Super stoked for the new year

I see what you did there.

[AoNoChaos]

Dec 25, 2014 6:32:55 GMT Charles said:

Dec 25, 2014 2:28:36 GMT AoNoChaos said:

Super stoked for the new year

I see what you did there.

[Pinchetel]

Reptile things that confuse me;

-Commander Steele (Sonic the Comic Con Comic. You could say this is a slight Sonic the Comic Con Comic Con): In StC, it's established that snakes don't have limbs of any sort (case in point; the Cobra of the Crimson variety possibly alluded to by Megadroid in the Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric review). Is Steele an exception, does he have robotic arms too or was the Crimson Cobra an exception himself and snakes do have arms ala Archie (Not sure if Lyric originally had normal arms or not)? In any case, curious to see if he has a significant role in the history leading up to Silver's time or if he's one of those named characters who's there to add a bit of volume to the events.

Reptile things that don't confuse me;

-That wallpaper. <3

[Adamis]

Some reptiles have limbs, some don't, I guess.
Or he's from a different Zone than Crimson Cobra.
Or you're reading too much in this

[Supermorff]

Great new issue, everyone. And two extra stories with the STCC download as well. We're so spoiled. Many thanks!

Sonic
The Sonic strip is good, although it's very much an episode of a longer story. Threads come together and then separate, but nothing is self-contained. This story doesn't stand on its own. And that's ok, it's not supposed to, and every other story this issue is a standalone. But it means that there are some different challenges.

First of all, the art is great. The colouring is great. And together they're fantastic. Easily some of the best in STCO's history. It's smooth, it's bright, it's very clear what's happening and in what order. The hedgehogs look better than Death Trap, but the hedgehogs are the focus for the majority of the story so that's fine.

A couple of minor niggles, though.

• Sonic says that the Detoniks will explode if threatened, but on the next page he says they'll explode when they reach their target. What's their target? Why haven't they exploded as soon as they see Sonic?
• When A.G. starts talking on page 4, I had completely forgotten who A.G. was and I got a bit confused about who Silver was talking to. I read the Data Zone afterwards (it's spelled AG without periods in the Data Zone, btw), but it might have been clearer if we'd actually seen A.G. or at least got an arrow from the speech bubble to the wrist-computer.
• Speaking of the Data Zone, you've got a picture of Death Trap but no mention of them. Was it supposed to be a surprise that they're in the story? If it's intentional that they're not in the story, maybe they should all be named and their powers more explicit, instead of only naming Prank and Kalus? (Who is the grey one that talks first? It would have been so easy for Silver to namedrop him.)

But it's an interesting cliffhanger, and I'm intrigued to see what happens next.

Sonic's World
I honestly don't understand why Nack's story is a "Nack" story but Rouge's story is "Sonic's World".

Anyway, I really like this story too. Rouge is on top form, and Robotnik is at his crazy computerised best. The art is flatter and more cartoony than the Sonic story, but it really works and I love it.

So... is Rusty supposed to be Norris Wimple? I mean he looks exactly like Norris Wimple, but that name is never used. It's only on a second read that I wondered if Rusty wasn't supposed to be the character's real name.

Nack
I vaguely remember the story with the elks and weasels in which Nack becomes Zone Leader. I just didn't care about it then, and I don't care about it now. Nack's boredom is nice and his ill-judged betrayal is in-character, but something doesn't hold it together, and it's probably just that I know it's not going to have a lasting impact.

But the main thing that bothered me about this story was Robotnik doing nothing and the Drakons being with him making all the decisions. We've never seen Drakons actually with Robotnik in his Egg Bastion before, and honestly I don't like it. Plus, doesn't this cause problems with the Rouge story we've just read? It's never made clear which faction these Drakons are from, or why the House of Knowledge couldn't access the Egg Bastion with them. Furthermore, how does Robotnik make secret deals with Rouge if the Drakons are on-site watching him? Does this diminish Robotnik's capabilities now that he's hooked up to the computer, by saying that the computer actually doesn't make him a competent threat again and it's just the Drakons who are dangerous?

Big the Cat
I love Big the Cat stories. This one is great.

But why doesn't Father Christmas look like he did in STC? And why isn't Robotnik plugged into his Egg Bastion super-computer anymore?

You know what, I don't much care. It's a fun story, Big is a dopey hilarious goof, and the last scene with Sonic is wonderful.

Sonic (STCC)
Ha! This was just a delight all the way through. Norris Wimple popped up on the first page to asnwer the question that I was just about to ask. And there are so many references, current and nostalgic, I just about laughed the whole time I was reading it. Great work everyone!

Stories (Sonic's World, STCC)
I really like stories about stories, and this one is a really great one from Silver's decimated future. The various art styles work excellently, and the writing is great. I like all the insight we get into Silver and even Amy.

Pointless pedantry: It's super that Amy switched the story around so that it was a pair of sneakers that sent Sonic to the Misery Zone (and I love that they're the atomic time boots from AOSTH), but in the actual story it was a monitor, so maybe when Tails relays it in the last couple of panels he shouldn't say sneakers?

[Charles]

I had actually forgotten about the monitor when I wrote Stories

Jan 4, 2015 12:21:53 GMT Supermorff said:

So... is Rusty supposed to be Norris Wimple? I mean he looks exactly like Norris Wimple, but that name is never used.

Yeah, that's Norris ("Rusty" is Rouge's codename, hence his "MY codenames" strop).

[Supermorff]

Jan 4, 2015 16:18:45 GMT Charles said:

Jan 4, 2015 12:21:53 GMT Supermorff said:

So... is Rusty supposed to be Norris Wimple? I mean he looks exactly like Norris Wimple, but that name is never used.

Yeah, that's Norris ("Rusty" is Rouge's codename, hence his "MY codenames" strop).

That's what I noticed on the second read. It might be more obvious if Rouge had used her own codename (whatever it is) when contacting him. And it doesn't seem necessarily, considering she was using her own name when talking to Master Scholar. Unless Rouge is a codename and not her real name?

[L. T. Dangerous]

Dec 25, 2014 2:28:36 GMT AoNoChaos said:

Also got to read the comic from STCC and loved the stories in that too. The whole comic made me all teary eyed and warm and fuzzy inside. Congrats on the success of the con and comic and here's to another great year!

Jan 4, 2015 12:21:53 GMT Supermorff said:

Sonic (STCC)
Ha! This was just a delight all the way through. Norris Wimple popped up on the first page to asnwer the question that I was just about to ask. And there are so many references, current and nostalgic, I just about laughed the whole time I was reading it. Great work everyone!

Thank you very much, both of you. You have no idea how much this means to me, being able to write for STC, let alone the story being enjoyed. Couldn't have doe it without an amazing team working together on it.

[Eleonora B.M]

a very very nice issue! ^_^
I think the Big story was the nicest for me but now I'm REALLY willing to see where the Iblis story is going! Oh, great I'm full of anticipation now! XD
what?! "Stories" is in the number? am I going blind and can't find it? I see only Sonic's, Big's, Knack's and Rouge's issues.

[L. T. Dangerous]

Jan 6, 2015 20:29:44 GMT Eleonora B.M said:

a very very nice issue! ^_^
I think the Big story was the nicest for me but now I'm REALLY willing to see where the Iblis story is going! Oh, great I'm full of anticipation now! XD
what?! "Stories" is in the number? am I going blind and can't find it? I see only Sonic's, Big's, Knack's and Rouge's issues.

It's here.

[Adamis]

Go to the STCC section, there's a downloadable comic...

[Eleonora B.M]

ok, thanks! I can't believe what I was missing!!
Let me tell you in all honestly that was one of the very best Sonic stories, all medias considered, I have read or seen in the last years! Stories is amazing and extreamly well written and draw. I never liked the silver story, in no way it was proposed. But now, and especially with this story, you can feel close to it and fully, actually understand it! Gorgeous!

The Sonic convention story too was very smart and funny and it was SOOO good to see Sonic in his old "to the limit of tollerance" rudness and bad attitude!
plus is that Doctor Who's Pandorica Sonic is trapped into in that preview?! Sure looks like it!

[Charles]

Jan 9, 2015 18:54:37 GMT Eleonora B.M said:

ok, thanks! I can't believe what I was missing!!
Let me tell you in all honestly that was one of the very best Sonic stories, all medias considered, I have read or seen in the last years! Stories is amazing and extreamly well written and draw. I never liked the silver story, in no way it was proposed. But now, and especially with this story, you can feel close to it and fully, actually understand it! Gorgeous!

Ta muchly!

[Chigs!]

Ta for the comments! Pleased to see my Rouge story make it out there at long last, it started life as a pretty daft team up and just sort of blossomed from there! Things to respond to:

- originally the christmas story was intended to be part of a more traditional seperate xmas issue, but scheduling meant we could combine it with our regular issue - we've been striving in recent issues to make everything feel like its advancing the story forward but I think the intention was to keep the christmas story looser in terms of continuty to not effect where it would fall in the issue order. Sorry!

- Regarding Sonic's World vs Nack strip, yeah I take the point, when I wrote it there was no Sonic in it so it seemed natural to call it a SW strip, again scheduling meant that the story ran with another non sonic starring strip - unfortunate to have both Robotnik/drakon/egg bastion action seemingly happening at exactly the same time and not adressed, but that's the way the cards fall sometimes!

- Yep it's definitely Norris (until of course it isn't!) there was never really a sensible place to feature his name in the dialogue, at one point he was going to have his own data zone entry but I thought it would be more fun to keep his appearance as a surprise, though perhaps we did too good a job of hiding him!

- in case it's not obvious, the Drakons aren't there all the time, they just check on the equipment every so often, same as you might have maintenance checks on a lift or an escalator! To them its the same thing, just another machine to repair if it starts developing a fault, but they dont need to be supervising it all the time. I guess Rouge missed out on meeting her employers, or maybe she knew when best to avoid them?

- Father christmas is out of costume when we see him in Big - who's to say what he looks like under that cloak? I guess now we know...

- Bat Lass is totally Rouge's codname, even if she won't admit to it!

[neoamon]

Great issue but I have a few questions:

What is the General name?

During the General's first appearance they were Stags now they are Elk what with the change?

And why Norris would parter with Rogue?